Machinery fob feltincj hats



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

JAMES S. TAYLOR, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINERY FOR FELIING HATS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 14,121, dated January 15, 1856.

b all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JAMES S. TAYLOR, of Danbury, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Felting Hats; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a plan or top view of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is an end view of ditto. Fig. 3, is a sectional View in perspective, of the rollers of the machine.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improvement upon the hat felting machine formerly patented by me, and which consisted of a suitable number of rollers placed diagonally to each other, and within a frame or vat, the rollers being so arranged as to form a cavity or chamber between them, of sufficient size to receive the hat which is forced through the cavity or chamber the whole length of the rollers, by the rotation of the same, and felted or shrunk.

All of the rollers above mentioned, turned on a fixed axis, or only had one motion.

My improvement consists in giving two or more of said rollers two motions, viz a lateral as well as a rotary motion, for the purpose of felting the hats in a more perfect manner.

A, Figs. l, and 2, represents a vat, in which are placed four rollers, B, B, B, B, see Figs. l, and 3. The rollers are placed in the vat longitudinally with it, and are also placed diagonally with each other, or, the line of the axis of any one roller, if continued, would cross the line of the axis of any other roller, in the series. Between the rollers, there is a cavity or chamber, (a), see Fig. 3, formed by placing the rollers a suflicient distance apart. The two rollers, B, B, have fixed axes, but the two upper rollers, B, B', have one end of their axes resting in a slide, C, at the end of the vat, A, see Figs. l, and 2. Said slide has a late eral reciprocating motion given it by a cam, D, said cam fitting in a recess, (o), at the upper part of the cam, see Fig. 2. The opposite ends of the axes of the rollers, have pulleys, E, upon them, around which a chain, F, passes, and communicates mot-ion to the several rollers, see Fig. 1.

Gr, is a pinion attached to the cam, D, see Fig. 2. This pinion gears into a toothed wheel, H, which is hung at one end of a shaft, I, at the upper part of the vat. At the opposite end o-f the shaft I, there is a pulley, J, around which the chain, F, passes, said pulley, J, as it rotates, giving motion to the chain.

The rollers, B, B, are provided with universal joints, (c), or are linked to their pulleys, E, see Figs. l, and 3, so as to allow the vibrating motion to be made, and also the placing of the rollers diagonally to each other.

The vat, A, is intended to contain hot water or other liquids used in the manufacturing of hats, so that the hat may be partially immersed, if desirable, during its passage through the chamber, (a), between the rollers.

The hat to be felted is placed in the cavity or chamber at the ends of the rollers, and motion is communicated t0 the rollers, and also to the cam, D, by rotating the shaft, I, by hand or otherwise. The two lower rollers, B, B, merely rotate on their axes, but the two upper rollers have a lateral vibrating motion which is given them by the cam, D. The hat, as the rollers rotate, has a rotary motion within the cavity or chamber, (a), and also a longitudinal mot-ion, and is forced through the cavity or chamber, and is taken out at the end of the rollers opposite to the end in `which it was entered. If necessary, the operation is repeated.

The diagonal position of the rollers gives the longitudinal motion to the hat, and the lateral vibrating motion of the two upper rollers, B, B', subjects the hat, as it passes through the chamber or cavity, (a), to a kind of rubbing not dissimilar to the rubbing performed by the hands. And therefore, the hat will be more perfectly felted than by the former method, where the rollers worked on fixed axes. Motion may be communicated to the rollers in any proper manner, and I do not confine myself to the device herein described, viz: the cam, D, and slide, C, for giving the lateral vibrating motion to the upper rollers, neither do I confine myself to giving two rollers only the lateral vibrating motion, for it may be ap plied to more, if necessary.

I do not claim a series of rollers placed within a vat or frame, independent of giving two or more of said rollers a lateral vigrating motion, for they have been previously used. Neither do I claim giving the hats, a rubbing 0r 'Vibrating motion, as that is a motion indispensable in all machinery for felting hats. Nor do I claim the contrivanee above set forth as an independent invention, but merely as an improvement on my hat felting machine, patented May 3d 1853, and the patent if obtained Will be subordinate to the previous patent, and cannot be used Without av license from the legal owner of the patent of 1853. But Y What I do claim as new and desire to secure by Let-ters Patent, is:

The combination of machinery operatingV 

